U.S. Debt Crisis Exposes Oz Behind Tax Pledge: Margaret Carlson

By Margaret Carlson -
May 10, 2011

Republican Senator Tom Coburn of
Oklahoma has quit the charade that we can simply cut our way out
of the national debt. Having committed the Capitol offense of
honesty, Coburn -- one of the most fiscally conservative members
of Congress -- must be punished, of course. And that’s where
Grover Norquist comes in.

Norquist, the founder of Americans for Tax Reform, has made
it his life’s work to pressure Republican politicians into
signing a pledge that they will never, ever raise taxes. He has
famously said his mission is to shrink government to a “size
where we can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the
bathtub.” His ultimate aim is to prevent the “Holocaust” -- his
word -- that would engulf America’s persecuted wealthy if their
taxes were raised.

Virtually every Republican signs Norquist’s Taxpayer
Protection Pledge. Coburn signed it too, before he deviated from
Republican orthodoxy and joined the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of
Six, which is seeking to develop a compromise plan to reduce the
deficit. By working with Democrats, and seeking to solve the
problem rather than use it as another rationale to cut taxes,
Coburn is now a pariah off “by his lonesome,” Norquist says.

A plain-spoken obstetrician from Muskogee, Coburn honored
a pledge to leave his House seat after six years. He won re-
election in 2010 with 71 percent of the vote. He’s known for
placing holds on legislation he opposes and for speaking his
mind on tough issues. As a housemate of former Republican
Senator John Ensign in a Capitol Hill home devoted to Christian
fellowship, Coburn tried to get Ensign to break off an affair
with his best friend’s wife and later called out Ensign for poor
decision-making and judgment “impaired by arrogance.”

Isolation Battle

While Norquist works to isolate Coburn from the Republican
caucus, lest the truth contagion spread, the Oklahoman is
looking to do the same to Norquist.

Coburn is supporting an end to ethanol subsidies: $6
billion in annual tax expenditures that benefit agribusiness,
not the public. The savings would go to pay down the debt. To
Norquist, this represents a violation of the sacred anti-tax
pledge. In Norquist’s church, if revoking a tax loophole, no
matter how indefensible, causes someone’s taxes to rise, then it
must be opposed. And if you do close one loophole, you must open
another of equal or greater value -- even if it’s a deduction
for Gulfstream jets.

His position makes responsible public policy impossible --
which is what Coburn is eager to expose.

Democrats’ Tricks

What really burns Norquist is that a Republican stalwart
such as Coburn would fall for the promises of his Democratic
colleagues in the Senate’s Gang of Six. Democrats Dick Durbin,
Mark Warner and Kent Conrad, says Norquist, have “never voted to
cut spending in the history of their lives.” Coburn, he says, is
foolish to believe that his Democratic colleagues are
negotiating spending cuts in good faith.

“The question is: does Coburn realize he’s being played by
the president’s best friend in the Senate, Dick Durbin?”
Norquist shouts.

Coburn defines the debt crisis as a “disease” that career
politicians are afraid to treat. He’s not advocating legislated
tax increases. He’s arguing for deep spending cuts along with
tax reform that raises revenue by ending corporate welfare for
well-connected interests. In a Senate speech on April 5, he
said, “My taxes are going to go up. Sorry, they are going to go
up.” Appearing on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with
Al Hunt” days later, Coburn went beyond ethanol subsidies and
put $700 billion in annual tax expenditures on the table.

All of this violates Norquist’s faith, which has dominated
Republican politics for decades. (He actually accuses Coburn of
“impure thoughts.”) Although Coburn has yet to cast a vote to
raise revenue, Norquist insists the senator is guilty of “lying
to the voters of Oklahoma.” It’s a harsh thing to say about a
politician’s relationship to his constituents. Coming from
Norquist though, Coburn just might take it as a compliment.

(Margaret Carlson, author of “Anyone Can Grow Up: How
George Bush and I Made It to the White House” and former White
House correspondent for Time magazine, is a Bloomberg News
columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)